Attachment for mouthpieces of musical instruments



Aug. 7, 1928.

R. J. M VICKER ATTACHMENT FOR MOUTHPIECE'S 0F MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed May 16, 1925 INVEN ran Patented 7, 1928.

UNITED STATES" nornnraonu MCVICKER, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

Application filed May 16,

This invention relates to an improved attachment for the mouth piece of musical nmtmment-s of the reed type such as saxophones and Clarinets. k

- =Theprincipal object of the invention is to embody in a single attachment, a ligature for clamping the reed upon the lay of the mouth piece, acap for protecting the end of the reed when the instrument isnotin use and a trimmer'for. clipping the end of the reed when necessary.' Heretofore, these parts have usually all been separate and often become misplaced or lost, while with my attachment ,all ,of these elements areaccessible for instant use. V

Another object resides in an attachment which isjsimple in "construction, cheap of manufacture and easy to apply or'remove from the mouth piece when it is desired to replace the reed.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention resides in certain novel construction and combination and arrangement of parts, the essential features of which are hereinafter fully described, are particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a mouth 30 piece with my invention applied'thereto.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of thesame but showing in dotted line, the position of the cap when not in use.

Figure 3 .is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view on a the line 4-4 of Figure 1. V

Figure 5 is a perspective view of my attachment per se. V 40 Figure 6 is a detail view of a modified form of trimmer.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the reference numeral 10 designates a mouth piece used in connection with reed musical instruments and which has one of its sides formed with a flat lay 11, which re ceives a reed 12. My improved attachment is designated at 13 and includes a ligature 14, in the nature of a split band 15 which is provided with a concavo-convexed bridge 16 which overlies the reed. This split band is applied over the free end of the'mouth piece and is held in a clamped position thereon by thumb scrws 17.

My invention further includes a cap .18 carried by the ligatureand which comprises ATTACHMENT ronmournrrnons on MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. f

1925. Serial No. 30,821.

an elongated member'19 having ayoke 20 de pending therefrom and which engages the" cap to allow air to act upon thetip of the reedv for quickly drying after use. The bodyw of the cap is'formed with a tail 22 which is con'cavo-convexed in cross section to snugly fit the contour of the bridge 16 of the liga-.

ture. The tail is formed with a key hole shaped'slot 23 through which a headed stud 24 extends and which stud is anchored to the br1dge-16.".The shank of the stud is formed. with opposed flat portions for engagementwith the walls of the restricted portion of theslot for preventing lateral movement of the cap and for aligning thecap with re spectto the end of themouth piece when moving the cap into position When the cap s in applied position as shown in full lines 1n Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the stud is disposed adjacent the end of the restricted portion of the slot, there being suflicient friction between thehead ofthe stud and the tail toprevent accidental sliding movement of the cap. When the mouth piece is in use, the cap is adapted to be moved to a position as shown in dotted linesin Figure 2 of the drawing, by sliding the cap longitudinally .to bring the fiat sides of the stud into the enlarged portion of the key hole shaped slot 23', which permits the yoke 20 to be swung free of the end of the mouth piece and given one-half turn to reverse the longitudinal osition of the cap. Although both the bri ge' 16 and the tail 22 are concavo-convexed in cross section, there is sutficient yielding movement between them as to permit the tail to be rotated without requiring any adjustment of the stud. -When the cap is in an .inoperative position, the same is free of the tip of the mouth piece so as not to touch the mouth of the user during the playing of the instrument.

Itoften becomes necessary to clip the end I of the reed as the same becomes worn and for this purpose I employ a U-shaped bail 24, the bight portion of which is formed with a cutting edge 25, and which bail is pivotally mounted to upstanding ears 26 on opposite sides of the body of the ,cap. When it is desired to trim the end of the reed, the said end is projected through the opening 21 slightly beyond the end of the body member and pressure applied to the bail to cause the cutting edge to -sever the" in a non-cutting position and is adaptedto be depressed against the spring action of the V sameto cause the cuttin'g'edge of the blade toisever the end of the reed.- V

From the foregoing descrlption, it Willbe' apparent-that I have provided a single attachment "for the mouth piece of a reed musical instruinentwhich will act in the capacity of three separate devices, namely a lwature aca 3 and" reed-trimmer thus greatly reducing the cost of such accessories and arranging them for instant'useb What is claimed as new is A -1. In combination With the mouthpiece of a musical instrument, a reed therefor, a

ligature for clamping said reed to said mouthpiece, a cap, and means for holding said cap in an operative posit-ion over the end of said mouthpiece and for permitting the same to be'moved with respectto said ligature to an inoperative position, and a" cutting member carried by said cap for trimming the end of the reed When the cap is in operative position. 1

2. In combination with the mouthpiece of a musical instrument, a reed clamped thereon, a cap fitted on the free=end of said mouthpiece and having an opening therein through which .one end of the reed is adapted to be projected, and a cutter carried by'said cap for severing the projecting end ofsaid reed. I

3." An attachment for inouthpieces-of the reed type including a ligature,a cap adapted 7 to fit over the end of the mouthpiece, means for allowing sliding movement of said cap longitudinally with respect to the ligature and for gu ding the same in its sliding movement, and for permtting rotation ofsaid cap Wlt-h'IBSPGCt to the ligature upon'the'limit ot sliding: movement of said eap in one direct-on, sa'idmeans including a keyhole shaped slot provided in said cap, and a headed stud having a shank provided with opposed-flat portions extending through said SlOtL U V V In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

ROBERT JOHN MOVIGKER. 

